The week in tech: 5 must-know things

Nov. 9, 2012
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An image from a live-action trailer for "Halo 4," produced by David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") and directed by Tim Miller, visual effects director on "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World." / 343 Industries/Microsoft Studios

by Julia Ryan, USA TODAY

by Julia Ryan, USA TODAY

Don't let your family and friends judge you for getting a head start on holiday shopping in the next few days - there were a lot of new gadgets and games released this week. Here are the five things you need to know about this week in tech:

If you're thinking about using your debit card at a department store, supermarket or gas station this weekend, you might want to think again - fraud is on the rise.

USA TODAY's Byron Acohido says that data thieves have installed corrupt checkout terminals at many stores nationwide to steal customers' personal information. Their methods include some creative ruses. The thieves pose as repairmen to install or fix payment terminals and add skimming devices that pick up debit card numbers and PINs.

Once the thieves have these numbers, they can add the debit card number onto a blank magnetic striped card with a device called a mag stripe encoder.

So what does this mean for consumers?

Information security expert Jeff Hall told Acohido that debit card holders should seriously consider switching over to credit cards or using cash until government regulators find a way to clamp down on this problem.

Nook HD: Barnes & Noble's tablet has a "superb display," a lot of family-friendly features and a "strong eco-system" of magazines and books, especially kids' books.

3) Halo 4 roundup

The Halo video game series is back, with new adventures for Xbox hero the Master Chief in Halo 4. USA TODAY's Mike Snider and Brett Molina say the new game is a fresh update on the Halo series and delves deeper into the Chief's human side.

The hero is awakened from a cryogenic sleep, five years after 2007's Halo 3, and finds that he must face new interstellar threats and protect his artificial intelligence guide, Cortana.

The game's developers told Snider they put more pressure on the Master Chief in this game to "force him to take stock of his own humanity and force him to change."

It seems like fans took notice of this change. In his review of Halo 4 Molina called the game "an explosive, gripping first chapter for the franchise's next trilogy."

Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer wouldn't delve into any specifics in an interview with Snider about the future of the series. But he did promise that the new developer of the series, 343Industries, has a lot more in store for Halo.

Can't wait for Disney's relaunch of the Star Wars franchise in 2015? The newest Angry Birds game might help you with the long wait.

Angry Birds Star Wars was released on Thursday, with more than 80 levels of pig-flipping action on Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine and the Death Star. The game also has hidden levels for R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Star Wars Angry Birds is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, Android devices and Kindle Fire.

Astronomers have long been trying to find other planets capable of supporting life. A new discovery this week might mean they are one step closer to finding that planet.

A nearby star thought to have three orbiting planets actually has six orbiting planets, including one that could "possibly sustain an Earth-like climate," according to a recently released study about this solar system. The planet, HD 40307g, weighs seven times more than Earth and orbits its star at a distance that could allow oceans to form.

The bad news: The planet is too heavy to fully support Earth-like conditions.

The good news: Scientists say this discovery is "the tip of the iceberg" - if one planet almost has Earth-like conditions, it's safe to say there might be other planets that have better conditions for supporting life.